In the environment of a space vehicle, it is necessary for an astronaut-occupant to couple and to decouple cables for various purposes as he or she performs occupational spacecraft tasks and operates on-board spacecraft test equipment. It is desirable, in view of the confinement of a spacecraft environment, to simplify as much as possible the task of connecting and disconnecting cable leads and to ensure that reliable connections are established between multiple cable lead pins and sockets in the respective ends of the power cables to be attached.
An astronaut involved in the task of coupling and decoupling cables typically would be protected from the environment of space by a space suit that would include protective gloves. This makes it unfeasible for the astronaut to exert a force to apply or to remove a protective cap for a cable, although it is feasible for the astronaut to apply a torque to a protective cap with simple manual twisting.
It is necessary also in the spacecraft environment for the protective cap for a cable to be of low profile and of minimal radial dimensions because of the space restrictions in the space vehicle environment. A protective cap, furthermore, must be capable of withstanding vibration forces and be self-locking with a simple one-hand operation that does not require the astronaut to exert a cap insertion force.